Wednesday, May 14, 2014

Which should just be code for "another post". It has been crazy! I have this annoying feeling that I say that way too much but it just feels like it. That and I'm too tired to come up with a different way of wording it. I've used Crazy Mc-Dazy too many times as well.

The convention was....interesting. I had a blast with the gals. They were pretty good surviving my near death experience. I wasn't fully awake and didn't notice that I needed to put a bathmat in the shower before I got in. We'll just leave it at "elephant makes a splash" as my feet slid out from under me faster than I could figure out what just happened.

It would have been hilarious had it not happened to me....twice.

I managed to crawl out of the death trap, aka bathtub, and tried to pretend that nothing happened only to step out of the bathroom with concern faces staring at me. They had no idea just how ungraceful I can be. There really isn't a nice way to recover from making it sound like you didn't just destroyed the bathroom. That shower curtain will never be the same though.

Since I don't seem to own a filter, I posted all of this on Facebook and the comments from my Hubby were rather hilarious. Nice to see he takes amusement at my expense. Oh wait. I do that to him all the time. Huh.

The book area was just crazy huge and I was so thankful I didn't have to buy a single thing, because the twins are almost done and I have everything all lined up for Jared already. And there was a loud sigh of relief from my pocketbook. But it was fun to look at stuff, and laugh hysterically because I'm almost there. Sure I got a few weird looks, but I'm actually use to those. I did score a remote controlled pigeon for J's b-day. It's actually pretty cool and it can only be used outside.

Clearly, my evil plan was rather well thought out.

I got to meet The FlyLady. I use to get her emails years ago when I first started this blog. I'm hoping she was just having a bad day, because she was no where near as chipper as what her emails of yore had led me to believe. They were handing out neat little bags and I got a free book about Body Clutter and how to get rid of it. I looked at the author and I looked back at the book. I flipped the book around to read the back of it. Then opened it up and read a few pages and then looked back over to the author. I don't want to say that one stuffed with too much fluff really shouldn't write a book about how to lose said fluff especially with fluff still being all there and fluffy because that just sounds sort of....what's the word I'm looking for? Hypocritical?

I'm now inspired to write a book about how I beat anorexia. Except I've never been anorexic. But I'm sure it could be a slightly entertaining seller where I can pass them out for free to all 3 of my loyal readers. I can't tell if it's 2 or 3. My stats never seem to give me a clear picture.

Anyhoo -

There was a lot of info overload going on. I took notes so fast I'm hoping I'll be able to decipher this stuff once I have a chance to sit down and go through it. I got some great ideas, encouragement to keep going on, but also a huge dose of reality.

I think with all that life has tossed at us I've had the mentality to just hunker down and focus one day at a time and not really being involved in anything. I haven't thought much about the homeschool community much because having graduated through it and raising my boys through it, I sort of thought it was sort of ish the same. Silly me.

There were a couple of speakers that had a lot of warnings of what is on the horizon and it actually surprised me. One lady said we could be an executive order away from homeschooling being illegal and the challenge of what would you do if it was? There were warnings that there is a shift in our culture that seems to be out for blood. Anything you say can get twisted and brought up later. Having gone through that several times I don't find that surprising, but they said this is escalating. The community as a whole has become big enough that we are viewed as a threat and that changes things.

I noticed every single speaker kept giving out warnings about compromises going on. I hadn't heard about all the scandals so I sat there with my mouth hanging open. But I was also rather shocked that some of the speakers there had non biblical world views and alternative lifestyles. That's about as vague as I can put it without getting hate mail. I wanted to ask them what are they doing there? One speaker went out on a limb and said that she feels we're being infiltrated at every angle. She had some valid points. It was a bit sobering.

However, there was also a lot of encouragement. I can say that the face of homeschool has shifted and changed. Both for better and for worse. But as a whole, it was encouraging just to be around that many families that have laid it on the line and have walked it out. I've been to a lot of Christian conferences and after people would leave, I'm always appalled at the trash left behind and the rude behavior. So it was soooo nice to see families pick up after themselves and no kids were running about crashing into people. I felt like I was looking at hope for humanity!

And standing on this side of things - I can say we made the right decision for our family. I can say it was worth all the sacrifices, all the tears and questions because my guys are ready to stand without all the baggage you see weighing down on kids their age. And while they are facing all the uncertainty that comes with this stage, there is something solid about them - grounded, stable, unstoppable.

There were so many times I wanted to give up. I didn't think I had what it takes to finish this thing. And there are still days I wonder! But we had gone out to eat with the in-laws this last Sunday, and I was watching my guys at the far end of the table just chatting with each other and I couldn't help but smile. I looked at Fred and said, "Man, we did good! Especially with a whole lot of help from God!" He totally agrees.

This side of all the dreary days in and out is fun. I feel like the baton is out of my hands - at least it will be once I get the last of the stuff graded and an official transcript is done. Looks like another month. Tests are all scheduled and prep work is in full swing. We got several thing going on all at once and I'm actually having a hard time to just keep everything going without that terrible feeling like I'm forgetting something. Like laundry, or grocery shopping. And it took me a few minutes to find where I left my phone. But.....we.are.almost.there!!!

I think Jared will be done with his stuff by the middle of next week so his summer break will be starting. I gave them a few extra days off for his birthday. Dude is as tall as Fred and shows no signs of stopping. This is going to be an interesting few years with him. If he gets to 6'4" - I'm enrolling him into some sort of volleyball camp. He ate 4 chicken sandwiches for lunch yesterday. Ah, yes. That's where all our money has gone - feeding these people!

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About Me

Joanna

So it's like this...
I'm a crazy homeschooling momma who is sarcastic, sassy, somewhat silly, and slightly off-hinged. Trying to survive my husband and 3 guys while maintaining what is left of my sanity. At least I will once I find it. You haven't seen it by any chance have you?